Chain-drive mechanism for bobbin shafts of roving frames



June 3 1924. Y Y 1,496,752

G. F. ALBRECHT CHAIN DRIVE MECHANISM FOR BOB BIN SHAFTS OF ROVING FRAMES Filed Sept. 24. 1923 Patented June 3, 1924.

Uni-TEE stares eaten-i GEORGE E. nLBaEcn r, or VJOONSOCKET, armp t sLn vp, essior voa T0 woo vsoc mr MACHINE araass 00., mo, or woonsooxan'anonn I'S'LLAND, A conror'terron or RHODE IsLAN'D.

CHAIN-DBIVE MECHANISM FOR BOBBIN SHAFTS 01E ROVING- FRAMES.

Application filed September 24, 1923. Serial No. 664,511.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. ALBR CH a citizen of the United States, residing at Woonsocket, in the county of Providence, State of Rhode Island, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Chain- Drive Mechanism for Bobbin'Shafts of Roving Frames, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention provides simplified and improved chain-drive mechanismfor transmitting rotary motion 'frointh'e compound "of a roving frame to the bobbin-shafts of the "-"T=wo of the types of mechanism which have been employed in practice heretofore "for" the purpose just mentioned are the socalled spur-gear drive and the so-called chain-drive. The invention is, as its title indicates, an improvement in drive mechanism of the'lattertype. The spur-gear drive comprises a train of spur-gears, including one or more intermediates mounted upon a support which swings up and down in unison with the ascending anddescending movements of the traverserail and 'bobbin-shafts,'the organization being termed a horse-head.

----Tlie chain-drive as known in practice is shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent granted to Richard B. Daly, for s'lubberor 'fly frameyNo. 895,541, granted August 11,

1 908. It is termed the Daly drive and co nprises a sprocket-wheel connected with the compound sleeve, :1 sprocket-chain extending from such sprocket-wheel to one on an intermediately located jackshaft, a second sprock- -e't chain connecting another sprocket-wheel "on the jackshaft with one on one of the bobbin-shafts, and means, including a cam, for

' controlling the position of the ackshaft to maintain the two chains at a uniformten- 'sion during the up-and-down traverse'movements of the traverse-rail and bobbin-shafts. A spur-gear drive has drawbacks, including noisiness in operation, and also the fact that its operation is attended by alternating gain and loss in the speed of the" bobbins.

relative to that of the spindles and fliers as the parts traverse up and down; Such gain and loss have the efi'ect of causing variations in the stretch of the rovings as-they Wind upon the bobbins, causing weak places which tend to break ages. The chain-drive respectof being'dree' from'th'e noise, etc.,

ha s-advantages over; the spur-gear drive in operation is not attended with the sa'id alt'e'rnating gain and loss. Substantially in theftorm, etc;,s'hown and describedin the Daly patent, ithas been incorporated in a large number of-rovi-ng frames'in practice. In such form, it is What maybe termed "a;

two-step chain-drive, involving the use of two sprocket-chains connecting respectively the driving sprocket-wheel of the compound with'the'jackshaf-t, and-the jackshaft with one of the bobbin-shaftsyas wel l as of the. compensating cam, etci, aforesaid; and is 'characteriz'ed'by a greatly "reduced number of parts, simpler pr nciples of construction and asimpler mode ofbperatio'n, and less expensive; to build, etc. 7

' The present invention comprises specific embodiments of the generic invention which is described and also claimedbroadly in my parent application fonU. S. Letters Patent filed Sept; 14, 1923, Serial No. 662,669.'The.

said generic invention as illustrated and described in my said patent application in" several forms, including the forms shown, de-

scribed and claimed herein, consists'in chaindrivemechanism compr s ng, essentially, in

combination with a driving sprocket-wheel which is operativelycombined with a roving frame compound and actuated therebygand the two bobbin-shafts of a roving frame, a

one-step and direct sprocket-chain connec-.

tion between the said driving sprocket-wheel and a. sprocket-wheel fixed on one or each of the bobbin-shafts. 1

The one-step direct chain-connection between the non-traversing compound and the bobbin-shafts mounted in connection with the traverse-rail and traversing vertically up and down therewith, as Well as the greatly simplified general organization, distinguishin important respects a mechanism in accordance with the present invention from the two-stepbroken or interrupted arrangement. of the Daily patent. The special"construction claimed hereinof the simplified organization, also differentiates a bobbin-shaft chain-drive mechanism in accordance with the present invention from other forms of chain-drive mechanism that have been proposed heretofore.

The simplification effected through the. invention results in a large reduction in the number of parts that are required, by reason of the elimination of one of the two drive-chain connections of the Daly patent, as well as of the intermediately located jackshaft, and its two sprocket-wheels, and of the special devices of the Daly patent whereby the jackshaft is maintained in the proper relative position with respect to the firstmotion shaft of the machine and to the particular bobbin-shaft which is in chainconnection with the ackshaft, and whereby the distance of the jackshaft from the said bobbin-shaft is kept uniform by automatic compensation during the up-and-down traverse, to keep the tension of the second chain uniform.

In the ease of the particular embodiments of the generic invention which are claimed herein, I employ in conjunction with bobbin-shafts which are geared together, one of such shafts having a sprocket-wheel, and a one-step drive-chain directly connecting the said bobbin-shaft sprocket-wheel with the sprocket-wheel of the roving frame compound, a yieldingly-actuated tightener-roll engaging with the slack run of the sprocketchain adjacent the driven sprocket-wheel and acting with a tendency to wrap the said chain more completely around such sprocket-wheel.

The embodiments aforesaid are shown in the drawings, in which latter Fig. 1 is a view of that portion of a roving frame containing one of the said embodiments, in section in a vertical plane extending from front to rear.

Fig. 2 is a similar view in which the bobbin-shafts are geared together by sprocketwheels and a chain, instead of the spur-gears which are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1, with the top cover removed.

The drawings do not show the usual traverse-rail, but they do show a slide 1. such as that which in practice is connected with the headend of the traverse-rail, its outer side having a groove 1 receiving a verticallyextending guide-rib 2 upon the head of the machine-frame, on which guide-rib the slide moves up and down in the vertical traversing movement of the traverse-rail. The covers 21, 22, constituting the bobbin-shaftgear box are attached to the said slide by means of suitable bolts 111, 111. The drawings show the butts or end-sections of bobbin-shafts 4:, 4, as mounted in bearings 5, 5, and 51, 51, in connection with the bottom cover-section of the said gear-box, and with naea'zsa the said slide, respectively. In usual practice there are two bobbin-shafts, as required for the driving of the two longitudinal lines of bobbins surrounding the two longitudinal lines of flier-spindles employed in a roving frame, the said bobbin-shafts being driven through connections with the sleeve 6 surrounding the main shaft 7, the said sleeve being an element of the compound and being driven in well-known manner at progressively varying speed in the operation of the machine.

Referring now to the drive-chain mechanism in which the invention resides,

A. driving sprocket-wheel 71 is fixedly connected with the compound sleeve .6, and the rear bobbin-shaft l has fixed thereon a sprocket-wheel 8. A sprocket-chain 9 extends around the two sprocket-wheels, in engagement with the latter, and serves to transmit rotary motion to the rear bobbinshaft from the compound. In Figs. 1 and 3, the front bobbin shaft is driven from the rear bobbin-shaft by means of spur-gears 82 which are fixed to the said shafts and intermesh with each other. In Fig. 2, the front bobbin-shaft is driven from the rear bobbin-shaft by means of sprocket-wheels 83, 83, which are fixed to the respective shafts, and a sprocket-chain 84 connecting the said sprocketwlieels.

The total length of the sprocket-chain 9 is sufficient to permit the required extent of up-and-down traverse of the traverse-rail to occur.

For the purpose of compensating for the alternate slackening and loosening of the sprocket-chain as the traverse-rail and bobbin-shafts ascend and descend in the traverse movements, and maintaining the chain continuously in proper engagement with the 901 which makes contact with the under side of the slack run of the sprocket-chain, and is caused to bear upwardly against such run.

In this instance, the tightener-roll 901 is journaled in a carrier-frame 902 having open bottomed bearings by means of which the carrier-frame is hung concentrically with the rear bobbiirshaft 4 and driven sprocketwheel 8 upon the butt or end-section of said bobbin-shaft. The extension of the said carrier-frame at the front of the said bobbinshaft is overweighted, so that it operates to cause the tightener-roll to press upwardly against the slack run of the chain. Thereby the results referred to above are secured in. connection with the sprocket-chain.

In Fig. 1 I have shown covers, partly referred to herein, which are more fully described, as well as claimed, in my parent patent application mentioned hereinbefore.

The described organization, in the two forms illustrated in the drawings, constitutes a simple and direct one-step chain-drive from the compound sleeve to the bobbinshafts in the case of which the slackening and tightening of the drivechain due to ascent and descent of the traverse-rail is automatically compensated for, without the employment of compensating cams or other special mechanisms.

What is claimed as the invention is 1. Chain-drive mechanism for bobbinshafts of roving frames comprising in combination with two bobbin-shafts which are geared together, one of them provided with a driven sprocket-wheel fixed thereto, a driving sprocket-wheel operatively combined with the roving frame compound and actuated thereby, and a sprocket-chain constituting a direct or one-step sprocket-chain connection between the driving sprocketwheel and the bobbin-shafts, and a tightenerroll engaging with the slack run of the chain close to the said driven sprocket-wheel and yieldingly actuated to tend to Wrap the chain around the latter.

2. Chain-drive mechanism for bobbinshafts of roving frames comprising, in combination with two bobbin-shafts which are geared together, one of them provided with a driven sprocket-Wheel fixed thereto, a driving sprocket-wheel operatively combined with the roving frame compound and actuated thereby, and a sprocket-chain constituting a direct or one-step sprocket-chain connection between the driving sprocketwheel and the bobbin-shafts, a tightener-roll mounted concentrically with said driven sprocket-wheel and yieldingly actuated to tend to wrap the chain around the latter.

GEORGE F. ALBRECHT. 

